Happy Year End Party

The meat has been rubbed.
Last night several Rotarians joined forces to season some pork steak with Doc Crowley's seasoning.  Some of us also tried out the beer and wine selection for Thursday to make sure that it was up to the high standards of fellow Rotarians. 
Remember: If you are a Paul Harris fellow, please wear you pins and badges to indicate you are a Paul Harris fellow.
We are going to have some fun. Can't wait.

Business Professionals of America

As we wrap up the 2011-12 Rotary year, there is excitement about celebrating the end of the year and the start of a new one.  Bing Pratt, the District Foundation Chair, was in attendance and congratulated the club for achieving $100 per Rotarian giving to the Foundation.  JR Hackleman was happy to have his son, Garrett, join him for lunch.

Denis Ward was our host for the speaker today.  Dr. Ward introduced Jason Hendrickson and Sam Alexander.  Jason is the sponsor for the High school BPA.  BPA is a national organization that is designed to   help develop leadership and communications skills for high school students.  BPA gives them an opportunity to compete at a local and national level.  Sam Alexander spoke to us about what BPA has done for him and what it means to participate.  Sam will be next years National President for BPA.  For the past few years, BPA has been building a strong following in the high school and this year in the middle school.  It takes about $47,000 to send participants to the national contests.

The Year End Celebration is this week.  Please bring canned food for the food bank.  There will be a "Seasoning Pre-Party" at Ron B. home on Tuesday at 6pm.  Come and rub some meat and enjoy your drink of choice.  Reminder:  If you are a Paul Harris Fellow, please wear your Paul Harris Pins or Madallions to the Year End Celebration.

We are raising some good money from Rotarians who are clicking on the ads from the website and from this blog.  All the clicks help.  Thank you for supporting our club. 

Please Note:  Our meetings in July will be held at NSSB to accomodate our growing club and to try the bank on for size and then we will decide as a club whether to change on a more permanent bases.  We have discussed this in detail with Brad and he is OK with the change.

Rotary International Conference

Brad Borne was the Rotarian to give his ten minutes of fame.  We could have listened to his funny antidotes for much longer.  Brad introduced Greg VanLaere.  Greg's program was about the 2012 Rotary International Conference in Thailand.  Greg shared stories about visiting historical locations in Bangkok, the conference itself, and gave us a preview of the Rotary International Conference in Lisbon in 2013.  The ten day trip created a deeper understanding of what Rotary is. 

We had several visitors with us today.  Incoming District Govoner Craig Sherman attended our meeting.  Dusti, Claire and Maggie VanLaere came to listen to Greg's presentation and Rex had a representative from his fraternety at the meeting.  Mr. Love from Tri West schools also was a visitor and is running for Connie Lawson's old seat.


This weekend seen a lot of Rotary teamwork.  Starting Saturday morning, President Rex and his wife held a strawberry and banana dipping party.  The strawberries and bananas were to be sold as a fundraiser that night.  There was a good turnout for the dipping party and then some of the Rotarians migrated to the end of the street to assist in the Park to Park relay. 

Finally, over 1500 people gathered together on the downtown square for Peace Train.  It was a wonderful night of fun and music.  I am pleased to note that we ran out of dipped bananas. Fun and fellowship.  Special thanks to those that volunteered to make Saturday a success.

Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

This weeks program was a group that included Bev Austin from the Avon Rotary, Bill Russo from the American Cancer Society and Rex Dugan’s wife. Topic was the American Cancer Society and the functions of the organization. The money they raise is spent as follows:

Research/Grants – 150 Million per year with up to 450 million committed active spending during an annual period based upon active grant cycles

Service – Helping people get to treatment, Counseling, Advocacy, 800 Number 24hr access @ 800-227-2345

Education- Tobacco Awareness, Healthy Eating, Exercise

Cancer related deaths have been going down! 18% reduction in the past 20 years.

As I type this, the Relay for Life is in full swing.  The activity is taking place at the Hendricks County Fair Grounds.  There are 256 participants comprising 34 teams.  This weekend will raise over $36,000.  

End of the Year Celebration:  Mark your calendar for June 28th.  We will not be having our regular lunch meeting.  We will be celebrating the start of a new Rotary year at the Blanton House Thursday night.  Every Rotarian and their spouse is invited.  Shared Blessings food pantry will be cooking Pork Steaks for us and for a donation of canned or non-parishable food items (please be generous).  The rest of the meal will be pitch-in family style.  Please bring a food item to share with your fellow Rotarians.  A sign-up sheet will be going around. Please have an idea of what you will be bringing so everyone does not bring the same thing.  We have invited the Scholarship winners, their families and other Rotary Friends.

The Shortest Navy Pilot in History

This week we had guests Seth Cromer and Jennifer Rominger with us. Word is that Seth is really close to putting in an application to join us.

We are still looking for 1 volunteer for thefirst concert on the square. Time from 8-9pm. Who ever volunteers will be working with an outstanding Rotarian. Please email Rex if you would like to work.

 Jim Graham (Brownsburg Rotary) was our program and was introduced by Doug Catt.  Jim gave us a brief update on the Qudrat School in Afganistan.  The school is making great progress in womens literacy and health issues.  They are pulling from five villages and are needing to expand the school.  The Afgan government has taken over the payroll of the teachers os the school. There will be more information to come about the funding needs of the school for their expansion. Jim went on to share with us his adventure as the shortest pilot in the Navy. Jim had a desire to be a pilot for the Navy and was not going to let his physical size stop him from meeting that dream. He used someunconventional methods to grow a half inch. Jim developed a plan to grow using a stretch rack and met the 5 foot 6 inch requirement to enter the flight program. Jim's program was entertaining. He showed us slides of the various planes that he has flown over his lifetime. During 1957 there were more planes lost than that are in the Navy fleet today. Jim is the son of Gordon Graham. The Hendricks county airport is named after Jim's father. Reminder: The end of the year celebration will be held on June 28th. Spouses are welcome and encouraged to attend. It will be at the Blanton House at 6pm. Next week  Bev Austin will be our speaker from the American Cancer Assoc.